Description

Bubble Bobble is the story of two humans, Bub and Bob who wander into the mysterious cave of monsters and magically turn into dinosaurs. The only way to transform back is to reach the end of the cave...

Bubble Bobble is a platform game, with each level being a single screen. The enemies must be cleared from a level to go to the next one. With one player controlling Bub and the other controlling Bob, the player can jump and collect items for points (such as fruit). The real power Bub and Bob have however is the ability to blow bubbles. These bubbles can be as platforms to leap on, or to trap enemies. Enemies trapped in a bubble must be popped by jumping into them, wherein they'll turn to fruit. Additionally, power-ups sometimes float by in bubbles. They include lightning, which flies out horizontally at enemies, and water, which drags the player and enemies straight down flowing over platforms. Taking too long to complete any level will summon Baron Von Blubba, who will float around the screen trying to destroy the player.

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Cancelled mobile port

Sometime in the early 2000s, Stephen Ruddy (author of the C64 conversion) attempted to port the game to mobile phones using Java. All 100 levels were copied across, including most of the movement patterns, but the game was never completed. This site has some video of what does exist.

Endings

If you finished level 99 by killing the enemies you got the bad ending. You had to get the secret key which opened up another 120 or so levels.

References

Though there have been many games based on the Bubble Bobble characters, a game called Chack'n Pop(1984) featured several of the characters and powerups later seen in Bubble Bobble. The main character from that game, Chackn, appears as one of the level designs in Bubble Bobble and also makes cameos in most of the sequels and derivative games.

Awards

ACE

October 1988 (issue #13) - Included in the Top-100 list of 1987/1988 (editorial staff selection)

Commodore Format

January 1991 (Issue 4) - listed in the A to Z of Classic Games article (Great)

July 1993 (Issue 34) - Modern Classics: Platformers

November 1994 (Issue 50) – #9 The All-Time Top 50 C64 Games

Computer and Video Games

May 1988 (Issue #79) - Golden Joystick 1988 Award: Third in category Arcade Game of the Year